


Team

by smilexdarling



Series: 12 Days of SteveTony 2015 [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Teambuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 05:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5444198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilexdarling/pseuds/smilexdarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who knew a silly team building activity would help Steve understand the true meaning of family?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Team

Steve absolutely loved Tony. He loved him more than he ever knew he could love someone, especially considering their rocky start, but at that exact moment he was pretty sure he was going to kill him. 

“Ornaments.”

“No.”

“Snowballs.”

“No.”

“Cherries?”

Steve sighed and shook his head no. 

“Um, hm. Oh! Testicles!” Tony shouted.

Steve shot Tony a thoroughly unimpressed look and huffed. 

“Oh come on, those are definitely testicles. What else could they be?”

“If that’s what either yours or Steve’s balls look like, you might want to see someone about that,” Natasha chimed in.

“Ugh, they’re not balls. Tony, think Christmas themed items. What is Christmassy and round and look, see these? What do those mean?” Steve pointed to the little music notes he’d drawn next to the ‘testicles’. 

“They’re balls that sing Christmas music?” Tony asked. 

“No, are you kidding m—“

“Time!” Clint yelled gleefully. 

Steve’s shoulders slumped and he erased his drawing from the dry erase board before handing the marker over to Thor who was up next. He sat back in his spot next to Tony on the couch and clenched his jaw. Tony put his arm around him and he threw up his hands, unable to hold back anymore.

“How could you not know what that was?”

“Babe, I know you’re an incredible artist but those were most definitely musical testicles.”

“No they weren’t. I can’t believe you’re so good at so many things but Pictionary is somehow beyond your reach. And don’t blame this on my artistic skills, those were so clearly jingle bells,” Steve said, losing some steam as Tony started running his fingers through Steve’s hair. That was cheating, he knew Steve couldn’t stay mad when he did that. 

“I’m sorry. If it’ll make you feel better I’ll jingle your bells later to make up for it,” Tony said in a sultry voice that did not match the ridiculous come on he’d just used. Steve was embarrassed to admit that it was still working, something he knew Tony could tell because of his damn ears that always turned red when he was turned on. 

“No you won’t. I’m mad at you,” Steve crossed his arms but he still couldn’t resist leaning closer into Tony’s side. Tony laughed softly and they both turned back to watch Thor draw something that looked like…Steve wasn’t sure what it looked like and he was glad Natasha was Thor’s partner and not him. Although, Tony tended to get a little too detailed with his drawings and would use up their entire time making perfect schematics of eco-friendly versions of Santa’s sleigh or a gingerbread house so Steve didn’t even have a chance to guess. 

Maybe Christmas Pictionary wasn’t the best idea for a team building activity, after all. 

It was becoming clear that Thor didn’t have a clue what most of the items he picked were anyway. Steve sighed again. At least Clint was having fun operating the timer. 

* * *

Clint and Bruce ended up winning and Steve was a little annoyed at first, he couldn’t help but be competitive even if it was over something stupid like a game, but seeing Bruce’s small, pleased smile effectively washed away all of his negativity and he was glad they had won. 

Everyone talked and lounged around for a little while after the game but Steve yawned one too many times and Tony declared the festivities over. He helped Steve up off of the couch and they went to get ready for bed.

Steve stood in front of his dresser to change into pajamas while Tony went to brush his teeth.

“I think that was a hit,” Tony said from the bathroom.

Steve’s brow furrowed, “Really? It seemed like kind of a mess to me. Natasha looked about ready to shove the timer down Clint’s throat a few times and Thor got marker all over the wall. I think he kept forgetting we weren’t playing charades.” 

Tony padded back into the bedroom, teeth clean and cozy pajamas already on. He walked over to Steve and took over the task of buttoning up his pajama top, “I know I’m no expert on this, but I think that’s why it was a hit.”

At Steve’s confused look he continued, “You and I didn’t have much in the way of family growing up, and what little we did have we lost pretty early, so we wouldn’t have much to go on, but I think nights like tonight, with all of the teasing and rowdiness and moments of tension means that we were acting like a family. And that’s the whole point of your team building activities right?”

Steve considered this and nodded.

“Well then, I stand by what I said, it was a hit. We all spent time together and we had fun, for the most part, and even if we drive each other crazy during the other parts it’s okay because that’s what family is. Everything we do together doesn’t have to be a rousing success. Some nights can be boring and some can be stressful, but the point is we were together.” 

Tony was right, which wasn’t usually surprising, but he wasn’t always so adept at navigating relationships and ‘emotional crap’, as he liked to call it, so Steve was impressed. 

He ducked his head down to catch Tony’s lips in a slow, lazy kiss. He settled his hands at Tony’s waist and rested their foreheads together when they broke apart. 

“I love our weird, dysfunctional family,” Steve whispered.

Tony chuckled, “Me too, and I think there has to be a certain level of dysfunction for it to qualify as a family anyway.” 

Steve smiled, rubbing their noses together, “No matter what, you’ll always be my family.”

Tony’s eyes looked a little shiny but he smiled back, “That’s good because you’re stuck with me, pal.” 

They kissed for a little while longer, Steve nipped at Tony’s lip, and Tony pulled Steve as close as he could be. 

His whole team meant more to Steve than he could explain, but what he had with Tony, it felt incomprehensible sometimes. 

He wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
